Knocking on their dorm-mates’ doors with a mission to collect as much scrap as they can, this group of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) students means business. The business of saving lives.
The group, for the past six months, has been raising money to fund the treatment of people suffering from kidney failure. The students of Fellowship Programme in Management (FPM) students and Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) collect old newspapers, magazines, case papers and old books from the campus.
By selling all this to scrap dealers, they raise money, which are used to fund the dialysis of 17 kidney patients. Palakh Jain, a FPM student who initiated this group, says “Besides scrap, we have also tied up with a popular restaurant where youth hang out, which donates Re 1 for every bill that is generated. We have been able to raise Rs 1.75 lakh so far”, reported Times News Network.
The drive is on the lines of the one started by a local voluntary agency, Centre for Development, a couple of years ago which collects newspapers from 80 homes in Ahmedabad to fund the education of needy children.
From seven patients initially, the number of beneficiaries has climbed to 17. Jain says, “We choose to help kidney patients, because dialysis is an expensive treatment and not much effort is being done to help the affected.”
The group joined hands with Dr Jagdeep Shah, a member of the Gujarat Kidney Foundation, who helps them identify deserving patients. “Initially, we supported patients coming to Thakkar Singh Hospital, Shivranjini.
Now, we are providing this service at SAL Hospital as well. Since I have my practice in both these hospitals, I know the background of the patients. We select the most needy,” says Shah.
Srividhya Subramanian, a PGP II student says, “The cost of scrap may be small, but for someone it’s a lifesaver.” Once the group had reason to celebrate too — they had collected scrap weighing over a thousand kg in a month.